Work on the first phase of the Madeira Terrace restoration may not be complete by next summer as hoped.
A small number of the cast iron elements of the terrace have not passed initial stress testing, which means further tests are now being carried out.
If it’s found they need to be replaced, this could add six months to the project timeline as bespoke pieces will need to be cast.
Brighton and Hove City Council appointed J T Mackley and Co to restore the first 27 arches last year, and work started on site in November, with the council saying people would be able to enjoy the terrace again in summer 2026.
Speaking at a meeting to update residents last night, Mackley’s contract manager Mike Clegg said he was unable to guarantee the work would be complete by that deadline.
He said: “So far nothing’s been rejected, but there are further repairs than we were looking for.
“The design [of the terrace] is quite robust, it’s just whether the material stands up to that.
“We have had some issues with cast iron strengths not coming up to strength and that means further testing and potentially strengthening up of those items.
“We are having to do further investigations which is taking time.
“Test results on two of the columns came back this week and that’s looking very promising.
“If the low grade ones pass it gives us more confidence, but it puts the work out of sequence which has effects.”
He said about 10 to 20% of the cast iron elements had so far been tested, and the team still believed all could be restored rather than replaced.
The council’s eastern seafront project manager Ian Graham said: “We want to give the contractor some time to go through the process. It will take a couple of months to do that.”
When asked if there were best case and worst case scenarios for when the project would be complete, Mr Clegg said: “We are not willing to share it because people get pinned down on that.”
Work on the new lift is going more smoothly. Mr Clegg said the ramp – part of its hydraulic mechanism – was on site and the piling rig has gone in.
The laundry room which sits halfway up the wall has been cleared, including asbestos found there, allowing highways to carry out safety inspections.
It was once connected to a hotel on Marine Parade above, and most recently used as a sound studio.
Meanwhile, work on the wall concludes this week. An initial setback when the original method of reattaching the terrace to the wall failed became a positive as the alternative option proved quicker and cheaper.
Mr Graham said: “The wall was seen as a huge risk, but it’s gone a lot better than we thought.”
In the coming weeks, some of the cast iron elements will be returned to the site ready for reassembly.
Once complete, there will be an empty bay on either side of the restored stretch, so that if the unrestored terrace collapsed, it would not damage the restored arches.
Derek Wright, who runs several local Facebook groups including the Madeira Drive Development Project, asked who would be responsible for maintaining the lift once it’s up and running.
The council’s project manager Abigail Hone said it would be maintained by the same company which looks after all the council’s lifts under the same contract.
Councillor Julie Cattell, lead member for major projects, said a meeting with stakeholders would be held this month to discuss the future commercial use of the restored arches, which are being equipped with electricity.
She said this could be pop up businesses or longer term ones. Any leases would be put out to tender.
In answer to a question about which section of the terrace would be chosen for the next phase, Ms Hone said that may depend on where the money came from.
She said: “In heritage terms, the key set piece of the terrace is the Shelter Hall [Concorde 2] and the two wings either side.
“Where is the money coming from and will that drive where is chosen? In heritage terms, [the next phase would be] Shelter Hall, but commercially, who knows?”
She said the cost of restoring the Royal Terrace steps and the two bays around it had been quoted at £2 million, and the current project to restore 27 bays is costing £12.1 million, and inflation means the cost per bay of the next phase is likely to be even more.
The restored structure has been designed to be robust for at least 60 years, and hopefully far longer than that – assuming regular maintenance.
Quelle surprise – delays!
Councillor comments also make clear that commercialisation of the terraces is at the heart of the council’s plans, not heritage. Clearly work to repair the terraces needs to happen, but such a shame the city’s heritage is not front and centre of the plans, and lining the pockets of private investors is key to what happens next.
I didn’t realise you had offered to pay for the restoration. My bad.
What are you yabbering on about.
A delay for a well-articulated reason. Can’t complain about that.
Delay, upon delay, upon delay. Benjamin, one stable factor about the comments you leave is you follow a council narrative, almost like a BHCC hand puppet
Boring Benjy is a salaried Council apologist
Yet, you’re the one with nothing of substance to say Mike…strange that. I’d rather a delay to get it right, rather than a potential collapse. You’d rather a botched rush job, Lucas?
Benjamin – I think you’ve been outed as a Labour Council stooge !
To steal a turn of phrase from Mike, what’s boring is when the limits of someone’s intelligence is second-hand name-calling; you can’t even be original, you have to dogpile from someone else. Getting back to the topic, it’s still a good reason, and it’s well explained. Sorry if that’s inconvenient for the typical conspiracy narrative.
What happened to the word “restoration”? This is a one-of-its-kind in the country Grade II* Listed land pier, not any old “works”. This Council shows a worrying disregard and sloppiness when it comes to honouring what makes this city special.
Yep – it’s all about private investment and money from what we’re hearing.
Sounds like Elaine and Clare have been on the old sauce again. Nowhere in this article does it say anything about commercialisation. Is that even a bad thing? Considering we local tax payers are paying for the works.
Mind you every comment these 2 make is negative unless it’s farage related so low IQ is probably the cause of such needless outrage.
Rude. And lies. I have never said anything positive about Farage, I can’t stand the man, so please stop your lies Dean. I’m allowed to have a view and comment, and for you to spread lies and make untrue claims is appalling. You can have an opinion, your opinion can be different to mine, but you can’t just make up lies about other people who post their opinion. Very low move.
BTW – the article clearly references commercial interests. Have copied below because you seem to have missed it:
“Councillor Julie Cattell, lead member for major projects, said a meeting with stakeholders would be held this month to discuss the future commercial use of the restored arches, which are being equipped with electricity.””
“Where is the money coming from and will that drive where is chosen? In heritage terms, [the next phase would be] Shelter Hall, but commercially, who knows?”
It’s mentioned several times in the article Elaine.
Including in the very first sentence?
Did you actually read it?
I’m no lefty as I suspect Benjamin is, but on local topics he’s usually quite sensible. The council is doing the best it can. Personally I think the government should help out, but there seems to be a lack of funds. If this structure were in London it would get all the funds needed to get it restored. Let’s hope there will be more funds forthcoming.
Guilty as charged. I consider myself a pragmatic left, idealistic, whilst being aware of the limitations of reality. And I agree with you there, central government does need to do more to support the councils across the country, and move away from a London-centric approach.
I’m assuming pre-works survey and estimates for costs and a time scale were done ?? How much did that cost ?? before any work started ??? The condition of the steel was never a secret, it’s on the seafront visible to all,, if you can get near it.
Why are we restoring cast iron and not just replacing it with steel… Only in this country does restoring something have to be done the most expensive un sustainable way.
They stopped using cast iron for a reason, it’s brittle and rusts extremely easily.
Make a cast, use steel once Painted no one will know the difference
All very logical, just not to a certain breed of people who seem to not realise that if you replace iron with new cast iron the original is gone forever regardless how much they pretend otherwise. As they say on TV, it’s only original once.
Ah, the Ship of Theseus paradox. You’re absolutely right on the practicalities of steel. However, the other side of it is that heritage work isn’t about preserving every molecule; it’s about maintaining the continuity of craft and design. The terrace remains authentically Victorian in spirit and method, even as individual components are renewed.
And of course, conservation law requires “like-for-like” repair where possible. Mimicking the original craft is part of meeting those obligations.
I know how it works Benjamin, I’ve spent a few years working on very old buildings, in Oslo, Hamburg and a few other places. The rules are also pretty strict there. Some dating back to the 1500s, very challenging it was. My thoughts on this type of work are that it should never be classed as Victorian once a certain amount has been replaced. It just doesn’t have the age about it if too much of the original is gone. Conservationists have the right idea but there seems to be no limits on how much can be renewed while still claiming the title “Victorian” just my thoughts of course
On the Ship Of Theseus topic.
1) Hypothetically if the Victorians had replaced some of the arches, after storm damage for example, would we now consider these originals or replicas?
2) To the Ship of Theseus deniers: if the current ship is not the original then when was the current ship built and who by?
As I mentioned, it’s only original once. I think that ship has sailed a long time ago. In a lot of cases the only original part left is the plot of land, until you dig down a little bit.
So your claim is that it’s conservatism of conservated conservatism, meaning that once conservation itself alters something, it’s no longer conservation at all, just non-conservative work dressed up as conservatism? Hmm. That’s an interesting food for thought…
@ Benjamin, I think that works out at plus 2 minus 3, although I’m not certain. However,,, how can parts of a building be classed as “conservated” when multiple parts were produced yesterday,,, or the day before, and then can only be supplied by “approved” contractors and conservationista’ ?? Anyway I was slightly miffed at you didn’t reply with a multitude of your highly readable paragraphs which I enjoy reading,,, mostly.